FRENCH CONNECTION(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 78

French maker DS is these days part of the 'premium pool' of Stellantis Group brands, along with Alfa Romeo and Lancia. Which means it must have a proper large sector premium product - and this is it, the DS 9. It's sized in between the mid-sized and large executive saloons you might be thinking of and claims to be a true successor to innovative Gallic luxury saloons of the past. There's proof of proper premium brand status here.

Background word count: 183

Back in the Sixties, 'DS' stood for executive sector luxury with a then-Citroen-badged model featuring avant garde looks and cutting-edge technology. More than half a century later, there is at last a true successor to that car in this model, the DS 9. DS is, these days, a brand in its own right and its products borrow heavily from technology already used in existing Peugeot and Citroen products, but there's unique innovation too in justification of the historical parallels here. The whole point of forming the DS brand in the first place was to give what used to be called the PSA Group (now Stellantis) the chance to build and sell larger full-executive models that these days, people simply wouldn't choose if they had Peugeot or Citroen badges. This car's importance right now lies not in sales numbers - this model will be a rare sight on our roads - but in the credibility it should give DS as a proper premium brand, rather than a purveyor of tarted-up versions of volume models. So, expectations here are high. Can this car meet them?

Driving Experience word count: 297

Lots about this DS 9 feels quite unique and Stellantis has decided that going forward, it should exclusively come with E-TENSE plug-in Hybrid powertrains. There's a choice of two, with nearly all customers likely to opt for the more affordable E-TENSE 250 version, which features a 200hp PureTech four-cylinder engine, accompanied by a 110hp electric motor powered by a 15.6kWh battery which can take the car up to 46 WLTP-rated miles on a charge. The DS 9 E-TENSE 250 manages rest to 62mph in 8.1s and a maximum speed of 149mph - or 84mph in full-electric drive. Your other DS 9 option is the flagship 'E-TENSE 4x4 360' model, which gets an extra motor on the rear axle, creating an All-Wheel Drive powertrain - and a more powerful one. That extra motor, along with an upgrade in tuning for the 1.6-litre engine to 200hp, delivers an output boosted to 360hp, that total contributed to by the two motors; the one on the rear axle generates 113hp, while the front one (integrated into the auto gearbox) contributes 110hp. The DS 9 E-TENSE 4x4 360 manages the rest to 62mph time to just 5.6s en route to a top speed of 155mph and 39 miles can be covered under battery power alone. Whatever variant in the range you choose, there's the usual Stellantis Group EAT8 8-speed transmission. And there are things you might really like. Refinement, aided by the acoustic glass, is class-leading - really silent, which is a good start. Ride quality is also brilliantly judged, supple without being wafty. And that's in a test car lacking the clever 'DS Active Scan' suspension, which uses a forward-facing camera to prepare the dampers for forthcoming bumps. This is in short, a full-sized Executive saloon with a very Different Spirit.